A Saiyan's Journey

"The next part of my life..."

Yotsuya Miko was stunned. Her heart, which had just started to calm down, tightened once again.

"What does that mean? Is Shin actually a devil? Does solving my problem require giving up my soul or something...?"

"Not at all. It's just that if you want to become a Stand user, you might have to listen to me from now on."

Seeing the frightened look on Yotsuya Miko's face, Shin couldn't help but laugh. He wasn't a demon—the real demon was still out there trying to earn money to buy back the First Horn of Apocalypse.

"In the future, if I need something, I might ask you to do some things for me. You might have to spare some time to act on my behalf."

"So... if I become a Stand user, I'll essentially become Shin's subordinate?"

Yotsuya Miko seemed to snap out of her daze and quickly understood what he meant by "the next part of my life."

In other words, if she became a Stand user, she would have to obey Shin's orders and would no longer be able to act against his will.

Although it sounded quite demanding, at least it wasn't a contract with a demon that required her to hand over her soul. Yotsuya Miko actually felt that it wasn't entirely unacceptable.

"That's pretty much it. To prevent any accidents, I'll also leave a small safeguard in your body to ensure you don't do anything out of line."

Shin smiled as he looked at Yotsuya Miko. His current strength was far greater than it had been the day before, and he no longer needed to secretly implant "Black Bird · Lover" into people.

He could now openly explain the situation to Yotsuya Miko and let her make her own choice.

If Yotsuya Miko refused, it wouldn't be a big deal. Although Shin was curious about her Stand, it wasn't something he absolutely had to see.

"But don't worry, under normal circumstances, I won't order you to do anything. After all, I'm not some demon."

Generally, if there was something that required a Stand user to handle, Shin would probably let the Kiryu Group take care of it first. Only then would he turn to the other Stand users he had helped awaken.

"Is... is that so?"

Yotsuya Miko was, after all, just a high school girl. She hadn't experienced the harshness of society, and after hearing Shin's explanation, her face immediately showed a look of interest.

On one hand, she felt that since Shin knew Yukinoshita Yukino, he probably wasn't a bad person, so his words were somewhat trustworthy.

On the other hand, she had indeed been driven to the brink of a mental breakdown by the evil spirits lately. Once she left school, the number of evil spirits would gradually increase.

At first, she could see evil spirits everywhere, so she had grown somewhat accustomed to the idea of being surrounded by them.

But now, she had gotten used to the relatively peaceful environment of the school, where evil spirits were almost nonexistent. As a result, she found it increasingly hard to accept being haunted by countless evil spirits again.

If it weren't against the rules, Yotsuya Miko would have even considered living at school.

After some internal struggle, Yotsuya Miko couldn't resist the temptation of being able to "deal with the evil spirits herself." She nodded reluctantly at Shin:

"I understand! Shin, please awaken my Stand! Even if I have to listen to you from now on, it's fine!"

"Good."

Shin nodded in satisfaction. It seemed Yotsuya Miko had mentally prepared herself.

Shin then had "Black Bird" release the arrow in its hand—of course, he adjusted the arrow's direction slightly to avoid it piercing straight through Yotsuya Miko's brain.

Although the wound from the arrow would heal after awakening a Stand, Shin was still worried that if the arrow pierced her head, she might die outright, leaving no chance for the Stand to awaken or the wound to heal.

With "Black Bird" adjusting the angle, the arrow flew swiftly from its hand and pierced straight into Yotsuya Miko's arm.

"Ah...!"

Although she knew that awakening a Stand involved being pierced by the arrow, the sudden pain of having her arm pierced was still quite intense for an ordinary high school girl.

It hurt far more than getting a shot.

Yotsuya Miko closed her eyes, almost crying from the pain, but soon she felt the pain in her arm gradually fade away.

As the wound from the arrow healed, Yotsuya Miko also felt something gathering within her body.

"...It seems your Stand potential is indeed extraordinary."

Although Yotsuya Miko couldn't see behind her, Shin could see clearly.

Behind Yotsuya Miko, a massive cloud of black smoke was slowly gathering, as if something was being compressed.

That was likely the "curse" that Yotsuya Miko had been born with.

Soon, the black smoke condensed into a female humanoid Stand behind Yotsuya Miko.

"Is this... a Stand?"

Yotsuya Miko also felt as if she had gained something new that she could control, as naturally as she controlled her own limbs.

But this time, what she could control wasn't just a limb—it was an entire body.

She manipulated her Stand to float in front of her, looking in surprise at the black female figure.

"Not bad. With a Stand, you'll be able to deal with those evil spirits on your own from now on."

Seeing Yotsuya Miko's Stand, Shin nodded, then walked up to it and had "Black Bird" reach out and tear off a piece of skin from the Stand's arm.

"Bear with it."

"Ouch...!"

Before Yotsuya Miko could even feel happy, she felt a sharp pain in her arm and saw that a small patch of skin had been torn off.

"If the Stand is injured, the user will suffer the same injury."

Shin explained the principle behind the torn skin to Yotsuya Miko while having "Black Bird" devour the small piece of the Stand it had just torn off.

Soon, "Black Bird" acquired Yotsuya Miko's Stand ability.

"Hmm? Your Stand's ability is... 'Bestowal'?"

That's right. Yotsuya Miko's Stand ability was "Bestowal." It allowed her to bestow anything of herself onto others in any amount.

For example, Yotsuya Miko could bestow her own stamina onto someone else, but in doing so, she would lose that amount of stamina herself.

In extreme cases, she could even bestow her own "life" onto someone else.

"It does seem to be like that..."

Yotsuya Miko could also sense her Stand's ability—she wasn't too concerned about the specifics of the ability, as long as the Stand could help her deal with the evil spirits, that was enough.

"Bestowal, huh..."

Shin rubbed his chin, feeling that this ability could come in handy in certain situations.

Aside from the First Horn of Apocalypse, this was the first time he had obtained a somewhat practical ability in the real world.

To be continued…

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